I’ve been working in Radio for just about a year now and how a radio station works is definitely something unique. Or at least it seems like it. Maybe it’s just me and maybe it’s just the (few) other jobs I’ve had as a comparison, but in Radio you can apparently get paid for everything. I’ve been told it’s normal that you can nickel and dime the company for just about every little thing you do - on top of what your make for base.

There’s a current/upcoming project that involves some audio production for a podcast. It’s actually more re-purposing pre-recorded audio, but it needs to be cut and edited nonetheless. Now, if I was given the raw audio and told it needed to be podcast-ready for a project, I would say, “No big deal,” it’s part of my job. I may not like to cut the audio and might not be the best at it, but I’d do it because it falls under what I do as my job. I’ve already made several videos for the web site and that took a lot of time to find the right footage, splice it together, find music…all that. But again, I just chalked it up as part of my job as web site manager/editor/developer/designer.

But “real” Radio people want - and can - get paid to do anything they don’t think is their job. In the case of the podcast audio, rather than just cutting the audio and passing it along, someone asks and gets paid extra to cut that audio - a “production fee.” We also had another audio feature that involved interviewing athletes. As a reporter, you might think interviewing and preparing audio is part of the job. I don’t know for sure, but I’d bet the people working on that project squeezed out some cash for that work as well, a “talent fee” with some added production fees.

Now Radio DJs also get paid extra when they make off-hours appearances. This makes more sense to me because it’s not within normal business hours and can happen on any day of the week. These appearances could be considered just “part of their job” too, but since in many cases these events happen during what would otherwise be personal time, I can let it slide in many cases. But when you’re in the office when you’d otherwise be in the office anyway and doing something that directly benefits you regardless, do you really need to get paid extra?

I guess I’m just wondering what happened to doing things just because “it’s part of your job?” Do you really to get paid for every little thing you do?

Maybe that’s the wrong attitude to take because getting extra for everything would be good, but in some ways it’s more hassle, and I imagine it really slows down productivity and efficiency. I mean, under this type of thinking if someone sends me a logo and it’s too big, should I get a “resizing fee?” Afterall, it’s not technically my job to resize images I get from clients. How about the videos? I should get a “production fee” too, no? Maybe I should, but I don’t need it and am not going to ask for it because it’s just part of what I do. It’s my job.

I tend to be weary of people who are hesitant to do things until they find out what’s in it for them. It’s either something you want to do or not. We’re not mercenaries. And you’re going to get much better quality out of people who care than those that are just doing it for the money. I’m not saying people that care should or need to do things for free - far from it. Despite me liking my job I wouldn’t do it for free. But I believe there is an obvious line between what is your job and what is not, and it’s not a fine line and frankly it’s not that blurry either.

Under this supposed mercenary model, you’re paying someone just to be a body in place for a time, and then you’re paying them EXTRA for their skills. Last time I checked I’m getting paid for my skills, not to just wait around until someone needs me to do something and then charge them more just to lift a finger.

I’m not sure if Radio is unique in this fashion, or if I’ve just not worked in enough places and this is the way things are. Or maybe I’m just the idiot that doesn’t chase after every last dollar.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 11:51 pm and is filed under All. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.